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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

I received this message from a reader and with his permission, I'm sharing it below.

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I grew up in the Bell community.I was raised in a 4 room log cabin, we had no running water,no inside bathroom. We did have electricity.We drew our water from a well, and in periods of drought, we would drive up to the Bethel spring to fetch water. We moved to town when I was a teenager and enjoyed the 'amenities' of running water.

When I was 22 or 23,
I was in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Arkansas-Times Democrat ran a very
large story on the running of the Bell Water line. I wrote letters to
the editors of both the Times-Democrat and the Cherokee Phoenix telling
of my pride in my former community and their hard work.
To my surprise, both letters were printed.

Last year, Mr.
Charlie Soap was in Jenks, Oklahoma, speaking to the Native American
Children there and the audience was treated to a free showing of The
Cherokee Word For Water.

There was a Q & A after the show.
I raised my hand and
when called upon, I addressed Mr. Soap in Cherokee, and then I said
something to the affect of thanking him and the late Wilma Mankiller for
their leadership and undying determination to complete this project.
At that point, the
moderator, who was also one of the producers of the show, ran up to me
with the microphone so they could hear me better. She had tears in her
eyes. I told them that the
project was too late for my upbringing, but that my neighbors and
relatives benefitted greatly from this project.
And then I thanked Mr. Soap again, in Cherokee.

When the show closed, I and several others walked up to shake his hand.
I could feel the eyes on me as he and I shook hands, no words were needed, the handshake said it all.
But Mr. Soap did say, "Thank you, Brother, for coming."

It was one of those
rare moments where you come full circle and you are able to thank those
who made life better for you and yours. I will always
remember and honor Mr. Soap for his dedication and I hope that The
Cherokee Word for Water is rightfully recognized by the Institute.